From time to time I feel obliged to do a compendium entry, especially when there is nothing much amongst my recent viewing that seems to warrant a review of its own. So here is a selection of movies seen since my last entry -- quite a few as it happens -- to be 'blessed' with a few comments:
Three French flicks, one from German TV: "Etoile sans Lumiere" (1946) which I watched for its screen role for Edith Piaf; it's a similar tale to "Singin' in the Rain" in which her voice is used to dub a fading screen star at the introduction to talkies, but without the happy ending. The other two, courtesy of CineMoi were "Mon Colonel" (2006) about intrigue in Algiers and its latter-day aftermath and "Rue des Plaisirs" (2002), a period-piece set at the end of World War Two about a whore, her true love, and the man who truly loves her. Again, don't look to the French for happy endings, although the former seemed to be morally acquitting a murderer.
Spring Parade (1940): This is the only Deanna Durbin film which I'd not seen before and a pleasant piece of period Austrian fluff it was with the young singer in good form and great support from some of my favourite character actors: Mischa Auer, S.Z. 'Cuddles' Sakall, and Franklin Pangborn.
Trauma (2004) and Bug (2006): These were two thoroughly muddled and unpleasant films of mental delusion, the first starring Colin Firth and the latter starring Ashley Judd, both of which featured a selection of creepy crawly insects which is guaranteed to freak me out.
Diary of the Dead (2007): I wish George Romero would pack it in with his zombie movies and either retire or find a new string to his bow. This one, in common with [Rec] a Spanish film of the same year which I saw about a week ago, follows the current Blair Witch/Cloverfield vogue of telling the tale via a hand-held video camera. Yuk! At least the Spanish entry which of course is being remade Stateside was well and truly scary, whereas the Romero effort could only boast three really nifty gore effects -- if you go for that sort of thing!
Painted Veil (2006): I really don't know who thought it would be a good idea to remake this 1934 Greta Garbo film at great length, starring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. Yes, the photography actually filmed in China was magnificent, but the movie itself was worthy and dreary, despite the acting talent involved.
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937): This is one of the great unknown classics of that fabulous decade and is throughly sad and upsetting as it deals with a family's treatment of its older generation, a story which is as true today as ever. Beulah Bondi, only 48 when this was made, plays the aged mother of five children, including Thomas Mitchell (all of three years her junior) who is forcefully separated from her loving husband of many years (Victor Moore). A real weepy!
The Great Madcap (1949): This is another very minor film from the great Luis Bunuel during his Mexican exile concerning a wealthy man who pretends to have lost everything in an effort to teach a lesson to his greedy children and relatives. I'm glad to have finally seen it, but it's a very workaday film.
So now you have it, or partially, since I actually did see a few other things over the weekend, but who in their right mind watches so many films? I do, I proudly admit...
2 comments:
'Etoile sans Lumiere' is notable for the debut on
screen of Piaf's then lover, Yves Montand, then
better known as a music hall singer. The early
use of dubbing sound movies a la 'Singing in the
Rain' as the story line makes one wonder if the film was known to the writers of that film.
'Mon Colonel' has another singer in a minor but
essential role, Charles Aznavour, and yet another
solid performance from Cecile de France who
provides the filmic link between the Algerian period and the present day. it is interesting to reflect that the events surrounding the Algerian
fight for independence have been more readily
used by film makers than the questions raised by
behaviour in Vichy France though the latter has
formed the background o several recent films.
'Rue des Plaisirs' is a tale of unrequited love with
an ever-present 'beast' being taken for granted by
a beauty (though a whore) which is understandable since he wants to find her true love for her but she, with his help, falls for the wrong man with, ultimately, tragic results. Not
quite there but nocely filmed and a first rate piece
of acting from the 'beast'.
'Trauma' was a piece of rubbish which just did not
hang together though it was slightly better than
'Bug' which was equally misbegotten. You are
either the eternal optimist or a masochist!
'Diary of the Dead' was poor.
'The Painted Veil' would have been acceptable though a bit turgid had Garbo not already done it.
Solid but uninspired acting from Norton, Watts and Schreiber.
'Make Way For Tomorrow' is one of those' they don't make films like this any more. Unwanted
elderly parents whose adult children have excuses
galore for not taking them in is a theme of a number of films but here the whole is economically sketched and then emphasised by a
magical sequence with the kidness of strangers at
its heart. A WEEPIE (capitals intended).
'The Great Madcap' is unlike any other Bunuel I have seen with the 'madcap' in the title being a
good description of its tone so it is thus unlike the
mordant humour of many of his later films. An
enjoyable diversion.
"'The Painted Veil' would have been acceptable though a bit turgid had Garbo not already done it."
Who cares whether Garbo had already filmed another version of "THE PAINTED VEIL"? Especially since she did it over 70 years ago.
I recently saw this new version with Edward Norton and Naomi Watts and enjoyed it very much.
Post a Comment